


Yamanakas Are Hard To Be Friends With

by 100percentfluffster



Series: InoShikaNar [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Yamanaka Ino, Background character Haruno Sakura, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Haruno Sakura Bashing, Ino is smart and bratty and I love her, Ino takes Naruto under her wing, InoShikaNar Origins, Mention of scratching skin until bleeding, Naruto is Just Naruto, Naruto is the sun and Ino knows it, Pre-Relationship, Shikamaru gets on board shortly after, Shikamaru is a smart ass, They're eleven in this so, Yamanaka Ino-centric, Yamanaka clan is so underrated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:21:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22795480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/100percentfluffster/pseuds/100percentfluffster
Summary: Yamanakas are hard to be friends with. Ino had been told that multiple times by different members of the clan. She’d always assumed it was because the Yamanakas tended to be loud, opinionated, and uncomfortably insightful. They also tended to be very pretty, fairly popular, and underestimated.She didn’t figure it all out until she was 11. When Sakura had left her behind because of a conflicting crush on the Uchiha boy.ORA story where Ino learns about friendship and the first stages of InoShikaNar unfold.Alternate title: InoShikaNar Origins
Relationships: Nara Shikamaru/Uzumaki Naruto
Series: InoShikaNar [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1638862
Comments: 55
Kudos: 1190





	Yamanakas Are Hard To Be Friends With

**Author's Note:**

> Ino Yamanaka is so incredibly underrated and overlooked. I've started this series to give her the characterization she deserves and that I can't stop thinking about. I'm not here to overwrite her personality. Ino is a preteen girl, she's allowed to be bratty. But I firmly believe we should let Ino be bratty and brilliant. I love her so much, and I hope my interpretation of her makes a reader love her even more.

“Yamanakas are hard to be friends with.” It was a warning and a sort of proverb in the clan that Ino had heard all her life. It seemed like nonsense. Her parents and relatives were all well known, popular even. She herself had no problems making friends whatsoever. The girls at the academy were always eager to be the ones to tell her about the newest gossip so that Ino would sit with them at lunch. The boys were easy to control as well, a few cutting remarks tempered by a soft smile had them working to prove themselves to her. Even the senseis, except for Iruka-sensei who somehow always knew when she was lying, were relatively easy to steer in the direction she wanted. She had plenty of friends and felt good about that. 

There were only four of her classmates that she couldn’t properly get her claws into and make them do what she wanted. Sasuke Uchiha who she wasn’t even sure felt emotions anymore. Shino Aburame who just put her ill at ease with most of his face covered up and his body language stiff and unfamiliar. Naruto Uzumaki who she’d just never wasted a thought on. And Shikamaru Nara who, unlike the others, was in fact her friend, but he was too smart or too lazy to ever hang on her words like the others did. 

Shikamaru and Ino had grown up together, they were family first and friends second. If she was to pick from her friends which she valued most it would undoubtedly be the Nara boy. He was relaxing to be around, when he wasn’t pissing her off, because she didn’t have to think about her every word in order to optimize the results. She didn’t have to smile so wide or insult so precisely. 

After Shikamaru she would place Sakura. The pink haired girl was fascinating. Ino thought it was both highly interesting and fun to trigger the fury Sakura tried so hard to bury. It was a wonder the girl was even functional with the way she slingshotted between emotions so fast. Crying one second in despair only to break a desk in her fury the next. Ino loved breaking down Sakura’s bashful shell to see what Sakura was hiding and to build her friend into what Ino thought she could be. Ino spent a lot of time thinking about Sakura and all the best ways for Ino to get what she wanted from her. 

When she was eleven, Ino finally understood what her parents and family had been warning her about. 

Sakura had dumped her because of a conflicting crush over the Uchiha boy. Ino had been using Sakura’s connection to the angsty preteen to get entertaining reactions out of her. Ino had been carefully cataloguing the differences in her breathing patterns and the intensity of the anger Sakura exuded in response to different types of Sasuke based triggers. She’d found a whole new gold mine to excavate in her friend. In hindsight, it was a miscalculation. Ino had no idea that her new fun would push Sakura away so completely. 

Ino was furious when she’d lost Sakura’s friendship and no matter what she did she couldn’t seem to get it back. The two of them always fell into insults and goading whenever Ino approached. Sakura’s anger was no longer following Ino’s careful machinations and she didn’t understand why. When had Sakura changed so much? 

After a few conversations with her father and a couple weeks of introspection, Ino realized that she wasn’t sad at the loss of Sakura. She was disappointed and frustrated, yes, but her first thought every time her mind paused on Sakura was the loss of so much  _ work _ . Ino had worked so hard over so many years to form Sakura into the friend Ino had wanted. For a while, Sakura had been a great foil to Ino. Both had hairline tempers and an affinity for arguments and insults. They were both obsessive and a little too aggressive. Ino had thought it was a good match up, it kept things interesting. 

Sakura had been a project for Ino. And she slowly realized that everyone else was too. The girls that she’d been trading attention for information with. The boys that she couldn’t care less for but enjoyed seeing run around. The people on the street who she talked to with sweet smiles in order to be given a baked treat or sweet compliments. Outside of her clan she had no friends. 

Except Shikamaru, who had always seen through all of the smiles that worked on everyone else. He’d wrinkle his nose at the giggle she used for gossiping. He’d even started calling her out when she used leading statements on him or passive aggressive compliments. They’d always been side by side and she was relieved that even in the wake of her realization he’d still be there. 

Shikamaru, however, wasn’t enough. Ino watched Sakura every day, squirming with jealousy and anger. She began snapping at her one real friend and her family members. She had no one to sink her energy into like she had with Sakura. She talked more with her classmates and pulled more of those heart strings that were so obvious to her. But it wasn’t enough. She wanted Sakura back. She needed to be able to crack someone open or Shikamaru might actually kill her in his dwindling patience. 

“Forget Sakura, find someone else,” he growled at her after one too many snide remarks from her. They were sitting out under the tree outside the academy and Ino was watching Sakura gossip with the other girls across the way. They were all supposed to be working on chakra exercises but the only people who actually deigned to were Naruto and Shino. 

Ino could feel Naruto’s chakra pulsing arrhythmically and her lip curled at the sensation. That boy’s chakra was wild and uncontrolled, much like the kid himself. He was staring at his hand where he was trying desperately to gather some of that energy like Iruka-sensei had showed them. She almost pitied him and his pathetic attempts. 

“What do I think of Naruto?” It was Sakura. Ino whipped her head around to glare at her past ‘friend’. “Naruto just picks fights and wants attention. You know why he’s so annoying? Because he wasn’t raised right. He doesn’t have a mother or father, someone to teach him right from wrong. Just think about it! He just does whatever comes into his head! If I did things like Naruto, forget it! My parents would be mad and I’d get in trouble, so of course I don’t do it. But if you don’t have parents to tell you, how would you know? He’s  _ selfish _ and  _ bratty _ and all  _ alone _ .” 

Sakura spoke with a haughty tone and self righteousness that Ino had never heard before the last couple of weeks. Maybe Ino shouldn’t have broken through to Sakura, not if this was the result, it certainly wasn’t who Ino had been forming her into. And the irony and hypocrisy of the girl! For years Sakura had been whining about being alone as well, had felt isolated for being a civilian in ninja training. Ino had helped with that. 

Ino had never made Naruto a target of her ‘friend making’ or of any hurtful behavior. He wasn’t worth her time and if she was pressed, she’d admit that picking on someone who was so clearly lost didn’t appeal to her. She’d throw insults at anyone if they looked at her wrong or it served her, but Naruto had been a dead zone. No overlap between the two of them. And seeing Sakura with her hands on her hips and that sneer on her lips enraged Ino. She felt almost protective of Naruto in the face of all that pink haired cruelty.

“He wasn’t raised right, huh? So what gives you an excuse for  _ your  _ behavior then?” Ino practically shouted. 

Sakura looked startled and then that tell tale angry blush came forward and Ino smiled at the sight. Sakura was always so easy to work up, it was nice to know some things never changed.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Sakura demanded. They were several meters apart but Ino felt like she could feel the heat of Sakura’s anger and wondered why it felt so satisfying. 

“It means that Naruto may be loud and a class clown but at least he doesn’t go around badmouthing orphans just to feel superior! It means that Naruto is a pain in the ass but he’s not cruel like you!”

“Naruto is a nobody and everyone knows that! He shouldn’t be at the academy and he certainly shouldn’t be bothering Sasuke and the rest of us!” 

“If he shouldn’t be here then why is he?” Ino demanded. “If he’s a nobody then why is everyone always so insistent on tearing him down? And Sasuke can take care of himself, Sakura! He doesn’t need you to make cracks at orphans! Or did you forget that dear Sasuke-kun is one as well?” 

Sakura gasped and looked over at the tree where Sasuke was perched. Sasuke wasn’t looking at any of them though the argument was far from quiet. Naruto, however, was gazing at Ino with those wide blue eyes and for once he apparently had nothing to say. His hand was still held out, palm up, but his chakra felt almost subdued now. Ino looked away hurriedly. Those eyes reminded her of Sakura’s back when she was still wearing her bangs short. Only Naruto’s nearly made her skin tingle with their intensity.

She kept her eyes targeted at the ground and tried to start a conversation with Shikamaru to distract herself from the feeling of being watched. Unfortunately, Shikamaru was either genuinely almost asleep or he was purposefully not reacting. Naras were hard to read with their constant slouch and stoic uncaring fronts. Another reason they made good friends.

The rest of the school day passed by with those blue eyes on her back. She only escaped them when she and Shikamaru began their trek home. Even when she couldn’t feel any gaze tracking her steps she couldn’t stop thinking about it. About Naruto’s expression of shock and weariness. She’d never noticed how emotiv the boy was. Had never really noticed him at all. 

Ino was unsurprised when the next day Naruto followed her around like a puppy. She ignored him for a while. “What an annoying brat,” Ino hissed to Shikamaru over free time. Shikamaru didn’t respond. 

She thought if she remained aloof Naruto would give up. After a week she reconsidered because she’d never seen Naruto give up on anything now that she thought about it. He still insisted on trying to talk to Sasuke every day even though Sasuke had made his thoughts on the matter very clear. Naruto was undoubtedly peppered with bruises from the shoves the other boy gave him on a daily basis. She had a feeling that those blue eyes would not be leaving her alone. 

“He must be lonely,” she commented to Shikamaru once during their walk home. 

“Do I care?” Shikamaru asked. He looked at her with his full attention though and Ino paused to think over her answer. 

“I don’t know.” 

The puppy behavior continued for another week until Ino figured it could only be less annoying to humor the kid than to continue dealing with the longing she could practically feel emanating from him. During free time at the academy, she sat down next to Shikamaru and waited for him to relax. Then she said, “He seems lonely.” 

He sighed but looked over at her and played along, “Do I care?” 

Ino paused again even though she was the one to initiate it. “Yes, you do.” 

“What a drag.” He closed his eyes and settled back into the grass properly. He let out another sigh and Ino knew his thoughts were about how troublesome she was. “Naruto!” he shouted. He didn’t open his eyes or move in anyway. 

Naruto on the other hand, Ino had never seen him look so surprised before. “Come over here!” Shikamaru demanded. She saw so many different emotions pass over Naruto’s face in the following moments. The kid was so open with his every thought, but the only two that interested her particularly were the excitement and fear. An interesting combination. 

The kid approached slowly and cautiously. It was exhausting to watch him try to figure out what was happening. He really was an idiot, wasn’t he? She patted the ground next to her and gave Naruto a small smile. He fell to the ground in his eagerness to follow the silent command, his desperation palpable. It made her feel uneasy. 

She shrugged it off and figured this was a good enough replacement for Sakura. It would be fascinating to start again from the beginning, and Naruto was so expressive and so clearly in need of any sort of attention. He was an easy mark. 

She spent the first couple weeks with her new project learning and observing. Making notes of things to change and things to enhance. She made sure everyone knew that Naruto was now claimed and verbally smacked down anyone who looked at the boy sideways, which was pretty much everyone. She listened to him talk and watched him react to genuine conversation and physical contact. She made a note of everything. 

Shikamaru seemed happy enough to not be the target of her ire and he didn’t seem to hate Naruto either. Ino gave herself a pat on the back for such a great idea. This was exactly what she needed. 

The longer she observed Naruto though, the more concerned she became. Sakura was emotionally unstable and harbored both superiority and inferiority complexes as big as her forehead. But Naruto was… a mess of epic proportions. 

She found out the kid could barely read and that was one of the reasons he struggled so hard in class. He had anxiety pouring out his eyeballs and no coping mechanisms at all, the boy would scratch at the skin of his arms and scalp until he drew blood in an effort to anchor himself. Naruto didn’t eat enough by far but clearly had quite an appetite. He was too loud all the time but he got even louder when he was insecure. He cried a lot though it was silent and no one but her seemed to notice. 

Frankly, Naruto made her heart hurt. 

She’d also learned some very confusing tidbits. Naruto lived alone in a rundown apartment. He bought his own food and clothes. When she’d asked where the money came from he shrugged and said, “Jiji said not to worry about it.” She had tried to take him clothes shopping once but the store owner was furious and had kicked Naruto out. Naruto didn’t find any of it unusual nor did he understand all the basics he was lacking. No one had taught him to read properly, he had no manners or knowledge of a balanced diet, he told her sometimes he could sleep for days straight and other times he wouldn’t for a week. It was depressing. The only good thing that came from it was the way that Shikamaru’s interest rose higher and higher. 

“Have you noticed the way that everyone hates Naruto but when asked they clam up?” he asked her. “Why isn’t he at the orphanage with the other kids his age?” he demanded. “The scars on his cheeks are perfectly straight and symmetrical. He’s had them since we met years ago, did someone put them there?” he mused. 

She let Shikamaru question the villagers and subtly get information out of the oblivious Naruto while she instead got to work in a different way. She didn’t have time for subtlety and Naruto wouldn’t notice even if she explained each step she took, so she just steamrolled ahead. She set Shikamaru to tutoring the boy in reading and writing. Shikamaru took to the task with a gusto she’d rarely seen from any Nara, and he transparently used it as an opportunity to extract more information from the blond. Ino bribed her parents into giving her more food for lunch every day so she could give it to Naruto. She laughed at his mistakes so he would laugh too. She started giving him chakra exercises to do whenever he got too fidgety or picked at his skin. 

When she found out about his frequent nightmares she grabbed some books on dream therapy from her father’s library. When Naruto showed signs of bipolarism she went to Ibiki and asked some unassuming questions. Naruto once let slip that he didn’t know his birthday, so she and Shikamaru had picked a date near her own and celebrated with him. Shikamaru had told her that Naruto only wore orange cause it was the color that nobody wanted and the only thing that the stores would sell him. She made sure to wear an orange accessory every day after that even though it clashed with her eyes. 

It continued for months. Shikamaru helped Naruto catch up and explained the basics to things anyone else would know. Should know. Ino taught Naruto how to communicate properly and coached him through social norms. She bought him ramen when he got through a day without hurting his arms and invited him home for dinner when he finally learned some table manners. She rewarded his good days and supported him on his bad ones. 

It was exhausting and frustrating to no end. It was also the most rewarding experience she’d ever been a part of. Naruto was turning into a real human instead of a wild boy with his even wilder chakra. She’d tried to tame that volatile energy as well but it never gentled, she merely got used to its intensity. She even found comfort in its strength sometimes. 

It was on the day that she felt that chakra flare all the way across the village that she realized how deep she’d gotten without notice. The fact that just feeling his chakra like that told her his exact state of mind… It made something in her stomach flip over like a dead fish. How had this gotten so complicated? When had she gotten so involved with Naruto’s life? 

Although by the looks of it, she wasn’t the only one. Shikamaru was practically dragging her toward the chakra signature. How could they even feel his chakra from halfway across the village? Just another question Naruto wouldn’t be able to answer. 

She sighed and let him pull her because maybe she was in too deep but that didn’t mean she was going to stand by and let Naruto fall into another anxiety attack. Not if she could help it, and she usually could. She was good at talking him through the worst of it. And after, when Naruto calmed down a bit, enough to be aware of his surroundings, Shikamaru would go and get dangos for them while Ino snuggled with the blond in that tiny bed he had. It was a custom by now, and wasn’t that just another kick in the chest? They had traditions and expectations!

She mulled her realization over for days, unsure what it meant or what to do about it. Surprisingly, it was Shikamaru who brought it up. They were walking home and Ino had been thinking about what she would drag Naruto out to do over the weekend with her and Shikamaru. “You’re so manipulative,” Shikamaru said.

She’d heard that word in regards to her family so many many times and they both already knew it to be true. “And?” she asked with a glare. 

He just shrugged and replied, “It’s impressive, is all. Naruto has no idea what you’re doing.” He gave her a pointed look. 

She frowned. She was helping him. “He’s happy!” Or happier, at least. It would take more than half a year to get over all the trauma that boy had, most of which he wasn’t even aware of. 

“I’m not saying he’s not, just…” 

“Just what?!” 

“Look, I didn’t care when it was Sakura you were leading around. Dad said it was a Yamanaka thing and that it was training. But Naruto?” 

A Yamanaka thing. She knew her family was known for delving into minds with both jutsu and intellect. Her father said that most people didn’t see all the things their family did, the little details in body language and the tones of questions. It showed itself in the books his office held and the lessons he gave her about interrogation techniques. Shikamaru knew as well. Just as she knew that he was force fed books and reports on battles and covert tactics.

“What I’m trying to say is…” Shikamaru prompted. “Is Naruto a project for you?” 

Was Naruto a project? She’d certainly meant for him to be. She thought about how badly she’d wanted to crack Sakura open and see how she worked. How angry she was when Sakura left after all that  _ work _ . Sakura had been a project, one that she hadn’t realized was more out of interest than friendship. Then she thought about Naruto. 

She’d undoubtedly taken him under her wing as a distraction from the loss of Sakura. Shikamaru said as much, telling her to find someone new. She was also… training him? But it wasn’t with backhanded compliments like Sakura. Ino was putting way more effort into Naruto. Was it because he was a bigger project or was it something else? All the things she’d been surreptitiously teaching him...manners, prioritization, coping mechanisms, confidence. Those were all good things. Was manipulation bad if it was for a good reason? 

Most of the things she was giving or teaching Naruto were things that anyone else would already have. Naruto had no alternative to look at. He’d never known family or regular social expectations. If she was doing anything to Naruto, it was mothering him. Teaching him to eat properly, to not scratch himself, to redirect his attention when necessary. It was something Naruto needed. And it was something Ino  _ wanted _ to give him. 

She cleared her throat and thought back to Sakura once again. Sakura’s timid smiles that made pride bloom in Ino’s chest. The way Ino carefully chose each sentence around Sakura for the maximum effect. The ribbon in pink hair as a claim of Ino’s. 

No. When Naruto smiled she felt it, it was hard not to when he burned like the sun. When Naruto learned something new or pulled at the material of his clothing instead of his skin, Ino felt proud of his growth but not of her contribution to it. She did feel a desire to claim Naruto visibly like that damn ribbon she gave Sakura, but it wasn’t for ownership or credit. She just wanted to show Naruto, and everyone else in the village, that someone had Naruto’s back. No matter what. 

The thoughts that had been plaguing her recently were forced to the forefront of her mind by her prompted introspection. It all fell into place, she was just mad it was a Nara who got her there and not her own genius. 

Naruto was not someone she wanted to change to her will. She seriously doubted she could change him even if she tried. Naruto was too passionate and stubborn to give in to anything more than a little help with coping mechanisms and tutoring. He was easy to coach and guide but hard to manipulate, she still wasn’t sure how he managed that. Shikamaru said it was because he was so dumb and Ino had thought for a little while that Naruto was just too damaged. But more and more she’d been thinking it was the opposite of that. How was he so damn pure after what he’d been through? Loyal when no one had given him reason to be? Something as small as Ino’s interference wouldn’t change Naruto’s mind about anything. He couldn’t be compromised. The boy was a miracle made up of sunshine and oxymorons. 

She had her answer but now it was her turn for a question. “Does it matter?” Only then did she notice that she and Shikamaru were standing in place. They’d reached where they usually split up and Shikamaru had been patiently waiting. Naras were good at that.

He gave an immediate and sincere response, “Yes.” 

She stared at her best friend. Eventually she smiled and said softly, “We’re agreed then. He’s the only friend I’ve made myself.” She and Shikamaru had known each other since birth, they may be friends now by choice, but their presence in each other’s lives wasn’t a choice. Naruto was.

She’d been warned that Yamanakas were hard people to be friends with. This is what they meant. The Yamanakas were hard to be friends with because they didn’t see people in the same light. To have a real friend meant respecting them enough not to do that or to even not  _ want _ to do it. 

Shikamaru gave her a small smile and a nod. “Alright. I’m glad to hear it.” Then he turned and began to slowly amble in the direction of his home. Ino wondered, as she turned to her own home, what Shikamaru would have done if she’d answered differently. He wasn’t a gentle person and he was far cleverer than she was. There was a lot he could have done. She pushed the thoughts aside and went home to talk to her father about ‘manipulation’. 

The next time she saw Shikamaru, on their way to school the next morning, she asked, “So how do we make InoShikaNar happen? I assume you have some plans? Graduation is only a few months away, you know.” 

Shikamaru rolled his eyes but he smiled one of his wide real smiles. “I know. Graduation, what a drag. I’ve set some things in motion already but I have some ideas that you could try as well. It’s going to be on us to make this happen, you know.” 

“Of course. It wouldn’t even occur to Naruto to try, the idiot.” 

She leaned into Shikamaru’s side as Naruto shouted their names excitedly and ran up to them. He still looked like a puppy to her. But she’d be damned if she let anyone kick him ever again. Besides, she was a Yamanaka, so she figured she’d better hang on to the one friend she'd accidentally made. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, this is the first part of a series that will be dedicated to Ino Yamanaka and her adventures with Shikamaru and Naruto.   
> Choji isn't in this series, he was born with little to no chakra and instead becomes a chef that the Akimichi family is incredibly proud of.   
> Second part coming soon (it's already written, just being edited). Title: Chronically Underestimated  
> Third part will be over the Chunin Exams (not fully written yet but will be amazing!). Title: Chunin Exams: Formation InoShikaNar  
> Thanks for the read and I hope you enjoyed!


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